Life Can Be Grand

For Audrey old ways are good ...

It's better than 16 days in the British Isles. It's better than moving to an apartment in a perfect location next to DC. It's even better than retirement, as wonderful as that is.  And what is this great, marvelous thing you ask ... why it's a visit from your grandchildren.

Now having grandchildren is like any new-to-you experience; you really can't understand it until you try it, or, in the case of grandchildren, it tries you. Some say it's so wonderful because you can spoil your grandchildren and then send them home.  And while that's true, I don't think that view portrays the whole picture. Having grandchildren demonstrates the continuity of life and forces you to really think about the future, while, at the same time, allowing you to enjoy each current moment watching your grandkids grow.

... and Owen shows new ways are OK too.

And grow they do. Already, Audrey, at 3-and-a-half, and Owen, at 2, are showing their independence. Audrey is determined to wear only clothes that feature dark pink. Owen believes that any remote, computer, or other electronic device is his to personally reconfigure. And in the past few weeks, both have decided that eating mashed potatoes is a culinary no-no (although fried potatoes are still on their menu).

One of the most intriguing things about this grandparenting business is seeing how much raising young children has changed over the years. For example, in the 1970s we had no electronic devices for toddlers (a current offering that has allowed Owen to forge way ahead of Meemom in IPad handling) or onview-24-hour-a-day Dora the Explorers (through which Audrey has already learned to count from 1 to 10 in Spanish and speak and understand Ayuda me and a host of other Spanish phrases).  

But I'm also pleased that the joys of simple, creative play have not been forgotten. Audrey spent quite a bit of time on her visit playing with the same alphabet blocks and tiny figures that her father had played with at her age.  She also created her own vision of Oz with a plastic set of story characters (or at least she did after Grandpop hid the scary Wicked Witch in his pocket). And Owen giggled and laughed as he caught, dropped, and threw (sometimes backwards) the Gaelic nerf football we brought back for him from Ireland.

Ah, but no visit lasts forever. After 3 too-short days, Audrey and Owen had to head back to their Tennessee home. And while that's a negative for me, it could prove to be be a positive for you, depending on exactly how you feel about bloggers who devote space to the comings and goings of their grandkids. I promise no more grandparenting tales until we visit Knoxville in September.  Well, that is I promise no stories unless Owen poops in the potty.   Or Audrey decides to do something especially significant like wear a blue dress.